The Link to the 2025 : A Year of Compassion Project is here
Dear Diary,
The last thing people many want to do is look inward and confront themselves, and as such, we live in an age of unnecessary cruelty. How did we get here? A lack of accountability for the wealthy and powerful developed into a lack of shame at all. Absent shame, the behavior continued to get worse until facts themselves began to come under fire and eventually ignored and replaced. Now, we live in a world where people read at a sixth-grade level and are fed constant lies by people who profit from a system that protects them. The system, meanwhile, has been corrupted to be self-serving rather than public-serving.
A corrupt system inspires its people to throw up middle fingers and say, ‘Why bother?’ while those who profit from the corruption get more powerful and entrenched. It is easy to say, ‘Why bother?’ when challenging the system, the message, and ultimately yourself means holding yourself to a higher standard to which leadership is currently held. However, nothing will ever change if nothing changes. So where does change start but with us, acknowledging the status quo is wrong and can’t continue as is.
Part of compassion is listening to that inner voice telling you what we’re doing or seeing is wrong. Change is often uncomfortable, and if we’re not willing to look inward for ourselves, look inward for others. Confront the reason you’re actually uncomfortable with a tax on billionaires is because it’s a tax on your dream of being a billionaire one day versus the reality of wealth inequality and how bad it is for us politically, environmentally, and socially.
There’s an old joke that says, ‘It is 0458(GMT) in Tokyo, it’s 1958(GMT) in London, and it’s 1958(A.D.) in The USA.’ A key aspect of growth is vulnerability. A sad truth about the American Culture is vulnerability is actively discouraged by a section of men. Toxic Masculinity is alive and thriving here in the USA, and its tenets are simple – you are capable of everything individually and independently. The consequences of this isolationism are plain to see, including but not limited to a refusal to admit wrongdoing, a lack of empathy and emotional availability, and a strong desire for a well-defined hierarchy.
When people are incapable of admitting wrongdoing, looking inward to confront themselves is going to be nigh impossible. As such, the lies they are fed will be a source of comfort. They can, despite the fear and anger, find solace in being able to point the finger elsewhere and never inwardly. Such devoted division allows the liars and the system as a whole to continue to be plundered and rotted from within as the opposition is too busy being held up by those content with the lie.
Compassion requires assuming degrees of responsibility, as doing the right thing is not a passive pursuit but an active and considered path met with constant resistance. If the finger is always pointed elsewhere, it will be extraordinarily difficult to develop anything more than a transactional-level interaction, which isn’t compassion at all. We are not always the primary beneficiaries of an act of compassion, which makes compassion unappealing to the so-called ‘manosphere,’ and those they influence. Sometimes, an act of compassion is non-action, which is also unappealing to those who feel they always need to demonstrate control and dominance.
Living in objective reality, understanding not just our actions have consequences but we and the environment are one and not avoiding the accountability of such a life will foster compassion organically by virtue of being connected with the big and small here and now. Caring is a burden to bear, but it’s not a burden we have to bear alone. We all do better when we all do better, and the more of us who care, the higher we can reach. Having moments of anger or fear doesn’t mean we stop caring; we will feel a range of emotions at points in our lives. The important thing is to stay present as opposed to locking ourselves away and, by extension, stuck in the past.
It isn’t the 1950s anymore, and it’s ok for other countries and cultures to thrive with us. In truth, it was always ok for other countries and cultures to thrive. Life is not a zero-sum game. If others do well, it is not at your expense. It is a primary lie spewed from the ‘manosphere’ to maintain the division necessary for the system to remain corrupt and plunderable from within. The only minority actually causing real harm are the billionaires. We can stand up to them and maintain our principles; I’d argue standing up to them is part of our principles of mitigating and restoring the damage done.
It’s ok for your inner voice to tell you things aren’t right and for you to listen to it. What is currently happening is not right, is not normal, and it’s ok to acknowledge it. If you were on the wrong path before, it is ok to get off that path and do things differently. Compassion has to start somewhere, and often, that place is looking in the mirror and having an uncomfortable, honest conversation with ourselves. From there, we can branch out with a smile and an open hand instead of a closed fist and clenched teeth.
Practice Compassion. You are worth it—and so are others who may need that helping hand or simple acceptance.